Somalia: Hijackers release oil Tanker Aris 13, crew without ransom

Somali pirates released a hijacked oil tanker and its eight Sri Lankan crew on
Thursday, a Somali security official and the pirates said, bringing the
first hijacking since 2012 to an unusually swift conclusion without the
payment of a ransom.

The
release followed a gunfight earlier in the day between the pirates and
the marine force, and then intensive negotiations between the marine
force, clan elders and the pirates.

"There
has been discussion going on after the gunfight of this afternoon ...
We pulled our forces back and so the pirates went away," said Abdirahman
Mohamud Hassan, the director general of the maritime police force for
Somalia's semi-autonomous northern region of Puntland.

A pirate confirmed the release was made without a ransom payment. In previous hijackings, many crews
remained in captivity for years before a ransom was paid. Eight Iranians
are still being held.

But
the pirates said they agreed to forego a ransom after learning that
Somali businessmen had hired the ship, which was taking oil from
Djibouti to the Somali capital of Mogadishu. Pirates have traditionally
been wary of tangling with Somalia's powerful businessmen.

"After
we came to know that the Somali traders hired the oil tanker, we
released it without a ransom," pirate Abdullahi told Reuters.

The
release will be seen as a success for the regional Puntland government
and its counter-piracy force, which is funded by the United Arab
Emirates.
The hijacking
was the first time Somali pirates have taken over a commercial ship
since 2012 and followed an outpouring of anger by locals over foreign
fishermen flooding into their waters. The Somalis are also angry with
their government for licensing some of the ships.

The vessel was hijacked on Monday. Residents living near where it was being held said four civilians were
injured by stray bullets during Thursday's gunbattle.
In
their heyday in 2011, Somali pirates launched 237 attacks off the coast
of Somalia, data from the International Maritime Bureau showed, and
held hundreds of hostages.

But
attacks fell sharply after crews put safety measures into place and
regional naval forces stepped up patrols. Some pirates returned to
fishing, and others became involved in smuggling people and weapons
across the Red Sea to Yemen.

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The independent news Web site GaroweOnline.com is the online sister publication of Radio Garowe, a community radio station based in Garowe, the State capital of Puntland, a self-governing region in northern Somalia